The basic strategy we use for raising children, teaching students, and managing workers can be summarized in six words: Do this and you'll get that. We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people in much the same way we train the family pet. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research, Alfie Kohn points the way to a more successful strategy based on working with people instead of doing things to them. "Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get rewards." Seasoned with humor and familiar examples, Punished By Rewards presents an argument unsettling to hear but impossible to dismiss.

埃爾菲·艾恩在這本書中痛斥瞭傢庭、學校以及工作環境中的各種奬勵製度，直擊鬍蘿蔔加大棒政策。一直以來，撫養小孩、教育學生管理員工的基本方針可以用六個字來概括：這樣做就可以得到那樣東西(Do this and you'll get that)，就像馴狗一樣 我們也在人的麵前晃動好東西(從棒棒糖到銷售傭金不等)。

《奬勵的懲罰》自1993年齣版以來，影響瞭無數傢長、老師和經理人，使他們改變瞭以往的想法，企圖用激勵製度來操縱人們，從短期角度來看，也許會奏效，但是最終這樣的方法還是會失敗的，甚至還可能造成持久的危害。

艾恩通過大量的研究錶明其實如果用金錢、成績或者其他什麼激勵方式誘惑人們的話，其結果適得其反。我們越是人為地用誘惑手段來激勵彆人，他們就越會對我們唆使他們做的事喪失興趣。奬勵和懲罰隻是一個硬幣的兩個不同麵——而且這個硬幣還不值什麼錢。艾恩給瞭我們這樣一個解釋，其實我們真正需要的是奬勵和懲罰以外的管理方法。